Council and Community Interview General Manager Finalists  

On Monday and Tuesday of this week, we put each of two General Manager finalists through a marathon day, giving them a chance to get to know the various Co-op stakeholders and vice versa. Each day started at 8 am with a store tour, followed by meetings with staff from 9 to 11 am. Lunch was with senior management. From 2 to 3:30 pm, members met the candidates. Each day concluded with an interview with the council; this was scheduled at the end of the long day, to give council members a chance to ask questions in the context of each candidate’s previous conversations.  

The council is currently deliberating on what we know of the candidates and of the Co-op’s needs. We’ll announce our decision as soon as it is appropriate.  

How Many Cooperators Does It Take to Change a Light Bulb? 

Last weekend, four staff and two council members from Hunger Mountain Co-op went to Portland, Maine, for the Consumer Cooperative Management Associations’ annual conference. It was so nice to gather with people who work with cooperative grocery stores. There were educational sessions on everything from the nuts and bolts of running a food store; to increasing food access for limited-income people; to how co-op grocery stores can drive broader local change, e.g., by increasing access to childcare for their employees and others. I plan to report on some of the specific lessons we learned in future newsletters or other forums. 

And how many cooperators does it take to change a light bulb? There were a couple hundred people at the conference, but I didn’t see any lightbulbs that needed changing, so I can’t really say, empirically. And I don’t have a good punchline, myself. If you want to suggest a punchline, feel free to email me; maybe I’ll report them in the next e-newsletter!

—Carl Etnier, Council President